Once & Future 4: Back To The Future
by shadowglove
Summary: Sequel to Long Time Coming. Arthur gets Merlin to magic them to the 'realm of the gods'...and discovers the truth...and then another mystery is brought to the forefront. Of course, the only thing he cares about is that Chloe's not really married.


**Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin or Smallville.**

Sequel to "Long Time Coming"

For **The Alternative Source**.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Merlin couldn't have heard that right. "You want me to _what_?"

Arthur looked at him as if he were mentally deficient, folding his arms over his chest. "_Mer_-lin. I seriously wonder about you. Were you dropped as a child, perchance?"

It attested to Merlin's shock that he didn't glare or comment on that. "You want me to..."

Arthur gave a sigh. "You're utterly addle-brained."

"_You asked me to infiltrate a celestial mountain_!" Merlin exclaimed, wondering if shouting it out like this would make the absurdity and _suicidal-ness_ of the whole situation plainer to Arthur. "_You want me to use my magic to take you to the celestial city Isis so you can...what? Woo the wife of a god who can __**pummel you to smithereens**_?"

"_Pummel_ is a strong word." The prince made a face. "I wouldn't use it in that context."

"He can shoot _fire out of his eyes_ and _blow clouds away with a simple breath_." Merlin tried to get the prince to see reason. "He moves faster than _the blink of an eye_!"

Arthur refused to acknowledge him, turning his back on the warlock and his best friend, leaning on the railing as he looked down at the royal gardens below...where he'd confided to Merlin he'd had the encounter with the golden haired goddess that had him so captivated.

Merlin sighed, seeing the longing and sadness on his friend's face, going to leaned against the railing next to him. "It's utter suicide, you realize that, right?"

"I---I just need to see her, Merlin." Arthur sighed, lowering his head slightly. "I---the dreams aren't enough anymore. I---I _need_ her."

"You're so difficult." Merin bemoaned. "Why couldn't you just fall in love with a girl like Gwen?"

Arthur smirked in amusement for some reason, before seeming to fall into depression once more.

The serving girl was very pretty, Merlin didn't see why the thought of being in love with her made Arthur look so miserable.

"I can't believe I'm saying this---but put yourself in my shoes." Arthur finally spoke. "What if you met _Morgana_...and yet she was married to some god. Say she was married to _Lancelot_, and you _knew_ that she had feelings for you too but..."

Merlin frowned darkly at the thought of Morgana with Lancelot.

The new male in Camelot who'd come to become a knight had caused quite a stir in the females of the court, and Morgana hadn't been blind to his 'stunning looks'.

"If you had a way of getting to her...wouldn't you do this?" Arthur turned to look at him.

Merlin opened his mouth, closed it, and pouted, sighing. "I hate you."

Arthur just looked at him.

"Oh _fine_!" The warlock threw up his hands and threw away any common sense that he had left. "But I'll need something of hers to be able to do the tracing magic. And this _might kill us_, by the way, entering the gods' realms. So I hope you value my amazing friendship you _clotpole_."

Arthur grinned, reaching forwards and grabbing the warlock by the neck, giving him an affectionate noogie. "Finally! You become useful."

"Hey! Hey!" Merlin complained laughingly before managing to free himself from Arthur's grip, trying desperately to fix his now horribly messed up hair. "So. Do you have something of this goddess of yours?"

Arthur nodded, walking away, obviously expecting Merlin to follow him. "Her shoes. She left them here the first time she came for a visit when I was an adult."

"You kept her _shoes_." Merlin raised and eyebrow. "That is in _no way_ disturbing."

Arthur ignored him, already lost in his plans. "We'll go immediately."

"Wait, wait, Morgana..."

"Would kill you if you told her what you were going to do." Arthur reminded him. "It _is_ suicidal you know."

Merlin glared at Arthur's back.

Oh, _sure_, NOW he remembered that!

They reached their destination, Arthur's manservant having the place so anally _perfect_. Sometimes Merlin and Morgana just wanted to mess up the place...but they knew it would get Harold in trouble, so just for the silent manservant's sakes they hadn't trashed Arthur's room. Merlin looked around him, taking in a deep breath, watching as Arthur retrieved some very odd, high-heeled black shoes from the chest at the foot of his bed, and handed one of the shoes to Merlin, as if not trusting him with the pair.

Calling his best friend a million of disagreeable names in his head, Merlin took in a deep breath and felt his magic swirling all around him. He was able to do things with magic that no one else could, and thanks to the school of magic (which had been renamed "Hogwarts" at the insistence of Supreme God Dumbledore upon his first visit) Merlin's control over his powers was great.

"Just so you know, with this spell we will appear wherever the goddess of life and love is." Merlin's eyes were bleeding gold.

"Just do it already."

"_Prat_."

And with that word, and a flash of gold, they disappeared from Camelot...

...and appeared in a weird room of sorts.

Merlin looked around.

This...this wasn't what he'd expected from a home in the land of the gods.

It was...kinda small.

He turned to tell Arthur he _might_ have made a mistake, when he found the prince standing still, looking down at the goddess that'd captivated his every thought.

She was lying down on the ground, books of all sorts around her as she slept. She was dressed in an overlarge shirt that barely covered the curve of her buttocks, and her hair was wild and wavy.

The blonde groaned and turned so that she was laying on her back, revealing the unbuttoned front of the shirt that gave a tantalizing peek at her cleavage.

Arthur gulped before suddenly turning to Merlin and glaring, slapping him up the back of his head. "Stop looking!"

Merlin glared at him. "_You_ stop looking. She's indecent _and_ some other _god's_ wife."

Arthur ignored Merlin, instead thrusting the shoe he'd been holding into the warlock's chest before clearing his throat and turning them both around. "Uhm. Goddess?"

There was a groan.

He cleared it louder. "Chloe."

Merlin wondered just _how_ the gods were going to torture them before killing them.

Suddenly his gaze fell upon something, and he took a step towards it.

It was...a flat box...obviously magical. The front of it had a sort of vivid _portrait_ of sorts, unlike anything he'd ever seen. And every couple of minutes the portrait would disappear, only to be replaced by another portrait inside of its frame. Not only that...but Merlin recognized three people who kept repeating in the pictures.

They were Gwen, Morgana...and _himself_.

But _how_????

He looked at the pictures of he, God Kal and Goddess Chloe.

This made _no_ sense.

The warlock turned to show this to Arthur when suddenly a scream echoed throughout the abode.

Apparently the goddess wasn't taking so well to their being there.

* * *

Chloe screamed and screamed and screamed.

At first when she'd heard the hisses and recognized the voices she'd thought she was dreaming, but when she'd woken up to see Arthur (dressed in chain-mail and with a sword glistening at his side) and Merlin in his wizard-robes in her livingroom...well...she really couldn't be blamed for screaming.

This was too much to take first thing in the morning.

Especially before she'd had her first cup of coffee.

"Chloe. _Chloe_!" Arthur came to her, bending down somewhat awkwardly in his chain mail and resting his hands on her shoulders. "All is well. It is I. Arthur."

"What are you _doing_ here?" She finally asked, unable to believe that he was really there, looking at her, _touching_ her. It'd been a couple of months since she'd gone back to the past for the last time, and she'd resigned herself to never seeing him again...so...she was _very_ confused.

"I have come to find you." Arthur replied, blue eyes staring intently into her green ones. "I meant what I said that night in the gardens. I---Chloe---."

She looked up at him, eyes wide.

He suddenly cleared his throat and looked away, standing. "Maybe it is better to have this conversation when you are decent."

For a moment she couldn't understand what he was saying, but then her eyes widened as she remembered how she'd fallen asleep in that old, tattered shirt, trying to read the changed history books, and figure out _why, _despite being keenly recorded as one of the best kings Britain had ever had, King Arthur seemed to slowly be faded out of the latter part of history...although there were no records of him dying or having an heir or anything. He'd just been a great king---and then they spoke about the next king, never saying what'd happened to Arthur.

There was no Mordred.

No Avalon.

No nothing.

She'd been trying to figure out just _how_ she'd fucked up Arthur's life...and she'd fallen asleep...and...

Her cheeks went bright red as she nodded, standing up and hurrying to her room, going to grab the phone there.

On the second ring, someone answered. "This better be good. Do you know the _time_ it is?"

"Morgana." Chloe hissed, taking her cordless to the bathroom and closing the door. "Merlin's here."

There was a sleepy groan. "No he's not. He's right here. Snoring. Sleeping. Like _I_ should be."

"No, you don't get it." Chloe took in a deep breath. "Merlin is here. With Arthur. _Past_ Merlin. Morgana! They're in my _living room_!"

Suddenly all the sleepiness was out of that voice. "_WHAT_?!?"

Chloe held the phone away from her ear for a second before finally bringing it back. "I need Dumbledore and Minerva. Stat."

"What are we going to do? Clark and Gwen are gone on that romantic vacation together, we can't ask him to skip out on that." Morgana could be heard getting out of bed before hissing to her boyfriend. "Get _up_ Merlin! Your past self went and botched everything _up_!"

Merlin made a very sleepy, unintelligent sound.

"Wake _up_!"

"Ouch! 'Gana! That _hurt_!"

"I'll inform his sleepiness of what has happened. You...you just wait on us." Morgana ordered before hanging up.

Chloe sighed before holding the phone to her heart and putting it on the sink.

She needed to bathe.

* * *

The place was fascinating.

Arthur stood in the doorway of the kitchen of the small abode, watching alongside Merlin, as Chloe (dressed in male apparel---he hadn't realized goddesses wore _pants_) made them breakfast. This kitchen was filled with many amazing things and sorts of magic that even Merlin (the insufferable know-it-all) admitted to being flummoxed about.

They had a large box, where they kept their food in, that had an eternal _winter_ inside, and there was a container that seemed to have a burning fire inside because it toasted the odd slices of bread when Chloe put them inside. They had this place that with just the flip of a switch _water came out_, either hot or _cold_...without anyone having to drag the water up towards the rooms or such. And there was also this thing called a _stove_, that cooked food without _fire_.

It was _fascinating_.

"Sit down you two." Chloe smiled, motioning to the chairs by the table. "You should be famished, right? Well, this is my specialty, eggs and bacon with pancakes and french toast. It's a big mix, but its very filling." She placed the plates of said food in front of them, passing them their forks and knives, before going to make for herself.

Arthur watched her as she moved around the kitchen with the ease and confidence of someone who was used to this manual labor...which was confusing. She was a goddess, she should have servants to do these sorts of things for her, and yet she acted as if this was a daily routine for her...and that she _liked_ it.

The prince took in a deep breath before turning to Merlin, about to comment, when he noticed his best friend gorging down on the food as if it were mana of the gods.

Intrigued by the look of ecstasy on his best friend's face, Arthur tried some of the things called 'pancakes' with the sweet liquid sprinkled over them...and he liked. He liked it a _lot_. The young man then tried a little of everything on the plate, and soon he forgot what he was going to say, instead, like Merlin, enjoying the cooked meal.

The food of the gods was _amazing_.

He kept an eye on Chloe though, watching as she stood next to a small machine observing as dark liquid filled a see-through container, the scent of the beverage filling the air with a heady aroma. She then filled a glass with the liquid, added what appeared to be cream and sugar, and then brought the drink with her own plate to the table and sat down, beginning to eat, but only after a sip of the beverage.

Arthur eyed the dark beverage and then looked at his orange juice that she'd given him.

What exactly was that drink?

It had a very strong aroma.

She caught him staring, cheeks tinting red. "Uh, this is coffee." She seemed to be able to read his mind, apparently. "It's what keeps me alive most days."

Arthur and Merlin stilled at that, eyes wide in horror.

The goddess needed this odd beverage called _coffee_ to remain alive?

Was this something very god needed or was it just her?

Arthur's eyes narrowed in worry.

He didn't think they had this 'coffee' in the mortal world.

Maybe this was one of the reasons why she had returned to the land of the gods.

Chloe didn't seem to notice his intense stare, contenting herself to eating and drinking this _coffee_ beverage. She seemed to relish it, in fact.

Obviously it truly _was_ vital to her existence.

The three of them ate in silence, and just as Arthur finished his meal, two figures suddenly appeared in the room.

It was Dumbledore...and Minerva.

Merlin gulped.

Arthur hurried to his feet.

Chloe looked relieved.

He wondered if she'd somehow summoned them, and couldn't help but feel somewhat betrayed.

"_What_ are you doing here and _why_ didn't I See this happening?" Morgana went up to Merlin, shaking her finger at him. "Talk now Merlin! _Now_!"

Merlin looked like he was going to faint.

"Have some pity, love." Dumbledore rested hi hand on her elbow. "You're going to give me a heart attack."

Arthur frowned. What had he meant by that?

"You're an immortal. You can't_ have_ a heart-attack." Minerva replied snappishly, looking quite insulted as she looked at Merlin. "_How_ could I not _See_ this?"

"I don't think that's the biggest issue here." Chloe announced, looking at the two elderly gods. "What sort of repercussions are there going to be in the timeline because of them being here now?"

Minerva frowned. "Anymore than by us going _there_?" She then seemed to realize something and turned to Dumbledore, slapping him angrily on the chest. "Why didn't _you_ warn us that this was going to happen? You _must_ have remembered this!"

Chloe turned to Dumbledore as well, eyes narrowing.

For a 'supreme god' Dumbledore sure seemed _scared_ of the two females.

"I'll deal with you later." Minerva glared at Dumbledore threateningly, before turning to Chloe. "Do they know?"

Chloe shook her head.

"Know _what_?" Arthur asked, looking between them.

"I think we should tell them." Chloe whispered.

Dumbledore shook his head.

The goddesses ignored him.

Chloe turned to Arthur and sighed. "We need to talk."

He knew from experience that those words were never harbingers of good, so he was quite wary when she led him to the living-room and sat him and Merlin down, Chloe, Dumbledore and Minerva sitting down as well, and the blonde turned to him, telling him _everything_. She started from the beginning, telling him about _why_ she'd gone to save his mother...

By the end of the conversation, Arthur and Merlin sat in silence, unable to believe it.

But then...but then Dumbledore and Minerva shed their disguises...and they were Merlin and Morgana...and Arthur was just shocked speechless, as was his best friend. They, neither could believe what was right in front of them.

"I'm...an immortal." Merlin's eyes were wide on his doppelganger.

Chloe nodded. "As am I."

Arthur turned to her at that. At least _that part_ of what he knew about her had been true.

Chloe turned to him, sighing. "Arthur, I---I never meant to lie. Nimueh just assumed and I hadn't ever thought I'd go back to the past---but then _my_ Merlin convinced me to because of the changes in the present and I met you and---." She sighed once more and looked away. "Somehow the lies just started to grow."

"So you're not married."

She turned to him, eyes wide. "I just---of all I've just----?" The blonde then lowered her gaze and shook her head. "No. I'm not married. Clark---the man you know as Kal---is my best friend, but that's it."

"And he has these powers because he is from...outerspace." Arthur tried to fit that into his brain.

Chloe nodded. "And _I_ have my abilities because I mutated. We aren't gods. We're just victims of chance."

He nodded, leaning forwards in the 'sofa', frowning. "Where am I?"

"Wha?" Apparently the Merlin of Chloe's days was just as articulate as the Merlin of _his_ days.

"Where am _I?_" Arthur looked up at them, frown deep in his face. "Morgana is here, _Gwen_ is here...am _I_ here?"

Chloe looked down at her bare feet. "No."

"_Why?"_ He asked, resentful.

Why was it that everyone else was either immortal or reincarnated and _he_ wasn't?

"I---I don't know." Chloe's voice was shaky. "I've actually been trying to research that. I---you seem to disappear after a certain part in history, and its somehow connected to a trip you make to Northumbria in the first year of your reign as king. The ancient texts I've gotten my hands on, well, they don't say much, but they always allude to something life-altering that happens to you on that visit, and that it haunts you or has repercussions or _something_ during the rest of your reign...and I feel that it is the reason why you just _disappear_ from history, and why you're not reincarnated."

Arthur frowned.

So did Merlin.

"So you can't go to Northumbria in the first year of your reign as king." Chloe reached for his hands and held them tightly, her hands shaking slightly. "I don't know what happens to you, Arthur, but I fear it isn't good. And---and if you can keep it from happening, maybe---maybe you will reincarnate like the others."

He looked at their hands entwined, before his gaze went up to hers. "You would...be happy if this were to happen? My...reincarnation?"

She looked surprised and then blushed, looking down. "Yes...I---I would be _very_ happy if you did...reincarnate...Arthur."

"It would mean a lifetime...without you." He frowned, standing, reluctantly pulling his hands from his. "A lifetime of loneliness."

"No. You---you need to marry. To have heirs." Chloe's voice shook as she said this, standing as well.

He snorted. "You do not believe me when I speak of the depth of my feelings for you. He turned to her. "I know that for _you_ we have met but thrice, but for I---I see you every night, we speak every moon's rising. For me, there hasn't been a moment in which I haven't been with you in the night season."

She looked at him...with longing.

Just as she had that night in the garden.

She mightn't have had the same experiences as he...but he knew that somehow her soul felt it too, this longing, this emptiness, this _halfness_.

It was visible on her face.

He reached for her, and she moved with him, _to_ him, resting her cheek against his chest and arms around him.

He---he'd missed this.

He'd only truly had her in his arms twice, and yet...and yet he'd felt so cold, so _wrong_ without her there.

And then...and then she was reaching for his neck and guiding his face down to hers and she was kissing him...and he opened his mouth to the kiss like a man starved. He was going to have to go back, and soon, so he would feast upon the banquet of her lips with fierce desperation while he could...to try and imprint her taste in his every molecule.

Neither he nor Chloe noticed as the two Merlins and Morgana left them alone.

* * *

"He's still going to go to Northumbria, isn't he?" Past!Merlin sighed as they walked down the stairs of Chloe's 'apartment', towards the 'coffee shop' below. He knew his best friend well, and somehow knew that despite it all, despite the warnings, they'd be making the fated trip.

Future!Merlin nodded with a sigh. "Yes, he will. Circumstances will inevitably force him to make that journey."

"What is going to happen?" Morgana asked, turning to _her_ Merlin.

Future!Merlin sighed, putting his arm around her. "I cannot say anything, I must let this happen."

Past!Merlin frowned. "Can you not give me a hint?"

Future!Merlin shook his head. "You two must go through that without any warning. It's pivotal."

Past!Merlin frowned. "We will survive it though."

Future!Merlin nodded. "Yes. Of course."

Past!Merlin took in a deep breath, running his hand over his head. "Will---will he see her again?"

Morgana nodded. "_That_ I _have_ Seen. She is his soulmate. They are bound to end up together...just like Merlin and I. I just---I just can't See _how_. But it _will_ happen."

Past!Merlin looked relieved, and then smiled at his future self with Morgana, before frowning. "Will you tell her what happens to him in Northumbria?"

Merlin shook his head, eyes haunted. "She will know when it is time."

* * *

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